IMF Approves $1.1 Billion Loan Disbursement to Ukraine Before Trump Inauguration

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board approved a $1.1 billion disbursement to Ukraine on Friday as part of an ongoing loan program to provide budget support.

The approval bolsters Ukraine as it faces continued Russian attacks, and comes just over a month after staff at the International Monetary Fund completed the sixth review of an existing four-year program worth some $15.5 billion.

“Russia‘s war in Ukraine continues to take a devastating social and economic toll on Ukraine,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement announcing the decision. “Despite the war, macroeconomic stability is being preserved through skillful policymaking by the Ukrainian authorities as well as substantial external support.”

Friday’s payout brings the total disbursed under the program since it was signed in March 2023 to around $9.8 billion, according to the IMF. “I am grateful to the team of the International Monetary Fund for their consistent assistance to our country in difficult times,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal wrote in a message on his Telegram social media account.

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Friday’s board approval means Kyiv will receive the money before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump has repeatedly criticized US spending on the war and pledged to end the conflict quickly, raising concern among US allies that Ukraine may have to concede significant amounts of its territory to Russia.

Ukraine’s economy “has remained resilient... although risks are tilted to the downside due to headwinds from attacks on energy infrastructure and a tight labor market,” Georgieva said. 

“Preparedness and contingency planning are key to enable appropriate policy action should risks materialize,” she added. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he needed both Europe and the United States on board to secure a durable peace, as he huddled with EU leaders at their final summit before Donald Trump’s inauguration. Talk has increasingly turned to ways Europe could help guarantee any ceasefire, with embryonic discussions over a possible deployment of peacekeepers one day.

But there are few specifics and Zelensky insisted that any steps to secure peace would have to involve the might of the United States. “I believe that the European guarantees won’t be sufficient for Ukraine,” he said after talks with his EU counterparts.

Zelensky said he was supportive of an initiative mooted by French President Emmanuel Macron to potentially deploy Western troops – but it needed to be fleshed out. “If we are talking about a contingent, we need to be specific – how many, what they will do if there is aggression from Russia,” he said. “The main thing is that this is not some artificial story, we need effective mechanisms.”